“Criticism is just someone else’s opinion. Even people
who are experts in their ﬁelds are sometimes wrong. It is up to you to choose
whether to believe some of it, none of it, or all of it. What you think is what
counts.”
― Rodolfo Costa

“Keep yourself so
busy with your own refinement that you have little time, energy, or need to
criticize others.”
― Anonymous

Saturday, December 8, 2012

For many people small bits of work are a source of boredom.
They consider small things to be negligible and not worthy of attention. Paying
attention to small things hurts their idea of dignity. They want to do great things or exciting
things. But small things appear insignificant only to the people who cannot see
the real potential in the small things.

Not all little things are little. Many little things can
have big results – a small idea can produce a profitable business, a small seed
holds potential of a big tree, a small kindness can begin a long friendship and
a wise word can change a life’s direction. Nothing good that is said or done is
inconsequential. Small things should not be disparaged; they may hold
vast potential. Let us remember that
even a thousand mile journey starts with a single step. All big triumphs are a culmination of many small
efforts.

At the same time little things can have big, unintended and
unwanted repercussions as well. Most of us are not undone by big things. Those
are more easily recognized and readily avoided. Small things are often your
undoing – the road not taken, the overlooked opportunity, the unnoticeable
omission or the little temptation. There are
many tender moments that are spoiled by intention or lack of
attention – an achievement not celebrated, an anniversary forgotten, a
thank you unspoken, a kindness unappreciated, a person not valued, and many
similar opportunities for good that are overlooked. Such things happen every
day in businesses, families, marriages, and personal relationships when the
smallest things – someone’s countenance, tone of voice, body language,
attitude, words, or even their silence – can assist or resist progress, build
or dampen enthusiasm, and develop or disparage an idea.

Amiel Henri Frederic said, “What we call little things are
merely the causes of great things; they are the beginning, the embryo, and it
is the point of departure which, generally speaking, decides the whole future
of an existence. One single black speck may be the beginning of gangrene, of a
storm, of a revolution.”

Swami Vivekananda said, “If you really want to judge the
character of a man, look not at his great performances. Every fool may become a
hero at one time or another. Watch a man do his most common actions; those are
indeed the things which will tell you the real character of a great man. Great
occasions rouse even the lowest of human beings to some kind of greatness, but
he alone is the really great man whose character is great always, the same
wherever he is.”

Benjamin Franklin
said, "For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse
was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost; being overtaken and slain
by the enemy, all for the want of care about a horseshoe nail." There is
an old saying, "Men trip not on mountains, they stumble on
stones."

Every enterprise
begins small, appearing insignificant at its early stage except to those who
see potential others do not. The Bible advises, “Do not despise these
small beginnings for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.”(Zechariah 4:10).

We have found in our times that the most powerful force is
the splitting of the smallest thing. In the splitting of the atom a succession
of explosions can be set off to cause the biggest explosion the world has ever
known. This has taught us that the power is not in the big but in the little. If a task is worth doing, it is worth doing
right. If it is not worth doing well, it is not worth doing. If something needs
to be done, it is important. If it is worthy of our attention, it is worthy of
our best efforts.

So do not measure a task by its size. Just do what there is
to do. Greatness is often wrapped in simplicity. A person who is unwilling to
do the little will not have the opportunity to do the big. A person who has not
done well the little is not prepared or qualified to do the big. Do not weigh a
task. If it is before you, do it and do it well. The only way to excel is to do the little
things with great enthusiasm. Everyone does the big things. They are the things
that challenge each of us. Consequently, the difference between success and
failure must be in our attention towards little things. Real achievers have
found that "little drops of water make the mighty ocean and little grains
of sand make the pleasant land."

Sunday, November 11, 2012

A growing number of researches demonstrate that the mind and
body are closely intertwined. Our attitudes, thoughts, beliefs and emotions
play a significant role in our health and well-being. Let us see three interesting researches done
on the subject.

Dr Bruno Klopfer of the University of California was
treating a man named Wright who had advanced cancer of the lymph nodes in
1957. All standard treatments had been exhausted, and Wright appeared to have
little time left. His neck, armpits, chest, abdomen, and groin were filled with
tumors in the size of oranges, and his spleen and liver were so enlarged that
two quarts of milky fluid had to be drained out of his chest every day.

But Wright did not want to die. He had heard about an exciting new drug called
Krebiozen and he was confident that a new anticancer drug called Krebiozen
would cure him. He begged his doctor to let him try it. At first his doctor
refused because the drug was only being tried on people with a life expectancy
of at least three months. But Wright was adamant. His doctor finally gave in. He gave Wright an
injection of Krebiozen on a Friday, but in his heart of hearts he did not
expect Wright to last the weekend. Then the doctor went home.

To his surprise, on the following Monday, he found Wright out of bed and
walking around. Klopfer reported that his tumors had "melted like
snowballs on a hot stove" and were half their original size. This was a
far more rapid decrease in size than even the strongest X-ray treatments could
have accomplished.

Ten days after Wright's first Krebiozen treatment, he left the hospital and
was, as far as his doctors could tell, cancer free. When he had entered the
hospital, he had needed an oxygen mask to breathe, but when he left he was well
enough to fly his own plane at 12,000 feet with no discomfort.

Wright remained well for about two months, but then articles began to appear
asserting that Krebiozen actually had no effect on cancer of the lymph nodes. Wright, who has rigidly logical and scientific
in his thinking, became very depressed. He suffered a relapse, and was
readmitted to the hospital. This time his physician decided to try an
experiment.

He told Wright that Krebiozen was every bit as effective as it had seemed, but
that some of the initial supplies of the drug had deteriorated during shipping.
He explained, however, that he had a new highly concentrated version of the
drug and could treat Wright with this. Of course, the physician did not have a
new version of the drug and intended to inject Wright with plain water. To
create the proper atmosphere he even went through an elaborate procedure before
injecting Wright with the placebo.

Again the results were dramatic. Tumor masses melted, chest fluid vanished, and
Wright was quickly back on his feet and feeling great. He remained symptom-free
for another two months, but then the American Medical Association announced
that a nationwide study of Krebiozen had found the drug worthless in the treatment
of cancer. This time Wright's faith was
completely altered. His cancer blossomed anew and he died two days later.

Studies in psycho-neuro-immunology (the mind-body
connection) actually show that our beliefs even have the capacity to override
the biochemical function of a drug. Dr. Henry Beecher of Harvard University
has done extensive research on this. One such experiment involved
100 medical students. The students were given one of two pills. Some
received a red pill – which they were told was a super stimulant, while
others received a blue pill – which they were told was a super
tranquilizer. What they didn’t know is that the contents of the
pills were reversed. The blue pill was the stimulant, and the red
pill was a downer. Half the students developed physical reactions that were in line
with what the students expected to
happen. Meaning, if they took the red pill, and was told it was a
super stimulant, it did exactly that – stimulate. BUT what the pill
actually contained was chemicals to SUPPRESS and TRANQUILIZE!!! Their
physical and physiological reaction to the drug was exactly OPPOSITE of what
the drug should have done.

It must be noted that
these students were NOT given PLACEBOS. They were given an actual
DRUG! A placebo is a harmless pill, usually a sugar pill that has no
therapeutic effect, used as a control in testing new drugs. Its
effectiveness is 30% or greater – that is higher than some drugs that are put
on the market!

Dr. Henry Beecher stated that a drug’s effectiveness “is
a direct result of NOT ONLY the chemical properties of the drug, but also the
patients’ belief in the usefulness and effectiveness of the drug.”

Renowned physician Deepak Chopra reported the case of a 63
year old woman who was hospitalized with jaundice, thought to be the result of gallstones.
During surgery, it was discovered that the patient did not have gallstones but
a severe gallbladder cancer which was considered inoperable. While the patient
was recovering from surgery, her daughter asked that her mother not be informed
of the true diagnosis. Dr. Chopra obliged and instead told the patient that
they had removed the gallstones, believing that she would only live a few more
months. Eight months later when the patient returned for a checkup, she
appeared healthy and there was no clinical evidence of cancer. On one of her
later visits she said, “Doctor, when you admitted me to the hospital three
years ago with jaundice, I was sure I had cancer. I was so relieved when you
operated and found gallstones that I made up my mind never to be sick
again” (Chopra, D. (1991). Creating health p. 71).

In our haste to find a miracle cure for diseases, we often
overlook one of the most powerful treatments for any disease – the human mind. All
three cases cited above illustrate the critical role of psychological factors
in physiological health. The mechanisms underlying
the results are still shrouded in mystery but there is no denying the fact that
these effects are real.

Deepak Chopra says in his “Ageless Body and Timeless Mind”, “Our
cells are constantly eavesdropping on our thoughts and being changed by them.
Because the mind influences every cell in the body, human ageing is fluid and
changeable; it can speed up, slow down, stop for a time and even reverse itself”.
Studies have found that people who suffer from depression are at higher risk
for heart disease and other illnesses. And people under stress have been found
to be more susceptible to colds and flu, and to have more severe symptoms after
they fall ill.

Research in young adults has shown that the happier a
subject is, the less likely they are to become ill, and the quicker they
recover from illnesses. Positive mood states, emotion and satisfaction appear
to be strongly linked with good physical health. On the corollary, those who
feel guilty, anxious, lonely and depressed are more likely to exhibit
undesirable health choices and present themselves as less physically healthy
overall. The longer one lingers in a depressive, despondent state, the more
likely it is for one to get sick. Without fail, those who maintain positive
mind and disposition are more likely to live longer and far better than their
more negative counterparts.

If by thinking positively, we can improve our health, we
must work to eliminate negativity from our thought patterns. If one can recognize
and understand negative thoughts and influences in one’s life, one can take
steps to eradicate them. Regardless of whether one is trying to combat an
illness, recover from a trauma, or simply become a healthier person, all evidence
suggests maintaining a positive mind is the essential component.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Many of us have an inner critic within us who is constantly belittle ourselves with harsh judgments. It makes us to doubt ourselves and feel inadequate to the circumstances of life. It is the enemy within. It is good to know our mistakes. But it is a grave mistake to exaggerate our mistakes and bury our self confidence. Recently I read the following passage of Dr.Maxwell Maltz, the famous author of Psycho-Cybernetics. It gives us a very good prescription to achieve self-esteem. Please read the beautiful message and follow the advice.- N.GaneshanSecret of Self-esteemStop carrying around a mental picture of yourself as a person less capable than others, by making unfair apples-to-oranges comparisons. Celebrate your victories small or large, recognize and build on your strengths, and continually remind yourself that you are not your mistakes.The word "esteem" literally means to appreciate the worth of. Why do men stand in awe of the stars, the moon, the immensity of the sea, the beauty of a flower or a sunset, and at the same time downgrade themselves? Did not the same Creator make us? Is not the human being the most marvelous creation of all? This appreciation of your own worth is not egotism unless you assume that you made yourself and should take some of the credit. Do not downgrade the product merely because you haven't used it correctly. Don't childishly blame the product for your own errors like the schoolboy who said, "This typewriter can't spell."But the biggest secret of self-esteem is this: Begin to appreciate other people more; show respect for any human being merely because he or she is a child of God and therefore a thing of value. Stop and think when you're dealing with people. You're dealing with unique, individual creations of the Creator of all. Practice treating other, people as if they had value, and, surprisingly, your own self-esteem will go up. For real self-esteem is not derived from the great things you've done, the things you own, the mark you've made, but from an appreciation of yourself for what you are-a child of God. When you Come to this realization, however, you must necessarily conclude that all other people are to be appreciated for the same reason.- Maxwell Maltz

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

"Ask and it will be
given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
(Matthew 7:7)” is not an empty phrase. It is really meaningful. According to
the Law of Attraction, the universe is unlimited. There can never be a lack of
anything that we want if we follow the Law of Attraction. There is more than
enough to go around and it is unnecessary to take what others may have. The Law
of Attraction dictates that everything is possible.

There are two reasons for our
not getting what we have asked for. First is we are vague in our desires. Most
of us only have a vague and misty concept of what we want. If we can't get clear
about what we want and why we want it, then we are like a person in a
restaurant who keeps waffling between menu items, never able to come to a
decision. Until we place an order, the waiter can't bring us our food. Until we
get clarity and until our desire is intense nothing will come out of it.

The second is, we don’t act
upon it. If the desire is intense we will definitely do necessary things to
make the desire fulfilled. If we don’t act we will not receive. It is simple. If
we have no real intention of acting, then why bother asking? Acting doesn't
always mean some huge undertaking. Usually it's just a small incremental
change. It is listening to the little
gut feelings, the still small voice that tells us to do this or that. If we
keep on acting, we will surely receive the blessings we seek.

The idea is nicely explained in
the little poem by Jessie B. Rittenhouse -

Friday, July 13, 2012

Some cravings keep coming again and again. Someone who craves chocolate can’t resist eating some, but if addicted, they would eat nothing else. Even in milder forms we do not seem to have a free choice or control over them. It happens because of a repetitive pattern imprinted in the brain. Some times it goes to extreme and becomes an addiction. Deepak Chopra says that you can always change it. You can always reset the reactions in times of cravings. He says:

"When a craving arises, don’t make it an either/or choice.

Instead of either giving in or resisting, do one of the following: walk away, postpone your choice, find a distraction, pause and watch yourself, or substitute another pleasure.

Don’t think of defeating your craving. Think instead that you are gradually erasing an imprint.

When you feel discouraged for giving in, be with your feelings instead of pushing them away.

Realize why appeasing a craving never works: you can never get enough of what you didn’t want in the first place.

Find out what you really want, whether it’s love, comfort, approval, or security. These are the basic needs that cravings try to substitute for.

Pursue your real need. If you do, the craving will automatically lose its grip and in time will vanish.

If for any reason you can turn away from your old craving, seize that moment, even if your craving soon returns. Every small victory imprints the brain in a new pattern. Don’t see this as atemporary victory—see it as a sign that you can find the switch that turns your craving off."

Monday, June 25, 2012

Faith and superstition cannot be easily differentiated by many people. They may look same. Yet there is a vast difference between the two.

Faith is based on understanding, inner knowing and trust. Superstition is based on ignorance, fear and greed.

There are many things in life we accept with faith that cannot be proven with logic. But we know it to be true in our deeper self. Faith arises out of internal sources.

Superstition is irrational belief. It is also not provable with logic. But it is believed by people based on vague references in unauthentic sources and scriptures. Superstition arises out of external sources.

Mere collection of facts from books or other external sources is not enough to give us genuine faith. We cannot have faith until we ourselves gained conviction through direct experience or inner knowing. When we know a thing definitely whole world cannot shake our faith.

Generally, doctrines, ceremonies and rituals are originally created with special meaning to lead us to truth. So long as we follow them with the right spirit and understanding the meaning it may lead to us have faith some day. But when we forget the real meaning and aim of such observances and follow them mechanically it becomes superstition.

Faith is omnipotent and all powerful. Jesus Christ said, “For verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove; and nothing shall impossible unto you”. But superstition is weakening and degenerating in nature.

Swami Vivekananda said “I would rather see every one of you rank atheists than superstitious fools, for the atheist is alive and you can make something out of him. But if superstition enters, the brain is gone, the brain is softening, degradation has seized upon the life. Avoid these two”.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Ignoring the hard truths of life is a foolish thing to do, though it is some thing we all do from time to time. These truths can be a little harsh, but we are not doing ourselves any good by ignoring them. Facing these truths can be frightening at first. But once we begin to accept them instead of avoiding them, we can be surprised how many paths open up for us. The more accurate our view of reality is, the more power we have to change it. Accepting these hard truths is the first step in claiming that power.

1. No One Can Change Our Life Like We Can: Nothing really will change in our life without our consent. Others may influence us. But only we can bring real change. So blaming God, parents, fate, circumstances and holding them will not help us in anyway. Many of us keep getting into situations and relationships where bad or unpleasant things happen, and we blame everything and everyone else. The truth is, patterns don’t lie. If we have a history of attracting these people and situations, it is our choice and our problem. Before jumping into the blame-game, we should take a look at our pattern. I’ll bet if we change something we are doing, feeling, or attracting, we will change everything else.

2. Someone Will Always Have More - That’s right, someone will always have more, be more, or do more than us. As there are billions of people on the planet, it is surely bound to happen. Let us accept it. Envy and anxiety will not change the fact. Life is not a race. We need not prove anything to anyone. Enjoy your precious life. Nothing matters more.

3. No One Thinks About Us as Often as We Do, Or As Harshly.- We are our biggest and worst critics. Many times we are handicapped by worrying what others might think or say. The fact is no one thinks of us as often as we do. They live in their own world and they have their own worries and cares. We may occupy their minds only a very short time. So it is better not give much undue weight to others’ opinions.

4. We Cannot Fight Reality / Nature – Our likes and dislikes cannot change the reality of the world. Nature has its own course. Our fighting with it will not alter its course. It can only make our life more miserable. Let us accept reality. Then we will be able to see what we could do with available resources.

5. None of This Will Matter after sometime- Always remember that nothing lasts forever. Forever is a lie. Some failures and things out of our control are nothing to be ashamed of in this short span of life. What ever may be our problems today, we will not feel the same after sometime. Do not take anything seriously. Let us not feel like the world was crashing down around us. Tomorrow is another day. The frustration, drama, relationship quarrels, and heated emotions we feel today won’t matter after sometime. We can renew ourselves at any point of our life if we are really committed.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

You will achieve all that you desire if you use the techniques explained so far, provided your emotions are positive and in alignment with those desires! Though mind powers can never be exhausted by use, they can be drained or wasted by negative emotions. If you entertain negative emotions continuously they will drain all your powers - both physical and mental.

Your immune system tends to lower its resistance level in the presence of continuous negative emotions and there is a draining of your bodily energy needed to protect you against disorders. Many diseases occur when a lowered immune system allows microbes to develop and proliferate.

Most of the time, our cells are preoccupied with renewal of themselves. About 90% of each cell’s energy is taken up with the vital task of building proteins and creating new DNA and RNA. However when the brain thinks there is a threat this process is set aside so that it can ensure your body has enough energy to propel your muscles to either fight of fly from the scene and get yourself out of danger. In order to do this the anabolic metabolism changes over to catabolic metabolism which, far from rejuvenating your cells, actually breaks them down.

When the body introduces adrenaline into the blood stream it causes a whole set of reactions within the body. For example it causes the blood pressure to rise, muscles to tense, breathing to become shallow, digestion to stop, the skin begins to sweat, while digestion, reproduction and other processes that will not be needed for the moment are turned down, among many other things. Of course as a temporary defense mechanism it is vital but if this condition is not stopped in time the effects on our body can be disastrous

During the experiments with Pavlov's dogs, it was proved that the physiological response of salivation during the anticipation of food could be anchored by an external stimulus like the sound of a bell. An associative neurological circuit was consequently established in the dog's brain that later allowed just the sound of a bell, even though food is not given, to elicit the salivation response. Throughout your life, haphazard anchors get neurologically created whenever your mind and body are strongly involved together and a specific stimulus is repeatedly provided at the peak of a certain state. Afterwards, whenever the stimulus that acts as an anchor is provided, your response is to experience the state once again. If you do what you've always done in the past, you'll continue to get what you've always gotten as a result.

In the present speedy life style, we have created a whole new set of so many things to worry about. Our need to feel in control may be threatened by imposed workloads, tight deadlines, and crowded schedules. We may feel threatened by traffic jams, delayed flights, incompetent staff, unexpected demands and anything else that might cost us time. Our need for self-esteem, recognition and approval can be threatened by the fear of failure, the fear of looking foolish in front of others, fear of criticism and the fear of being rejected. Uncertainty or anything else that makes us feel insecure can likewise be perceived as a threat.

Such threats are unique to humans; we can imagine -and thus worry about – things that no other living thing could possibly conceive of. The trouble is, our biological evolution has not caught up with our mental evolution. Our bodies respond to these psychological threats just as they would to any physical threat. Usually these turn out to be a false alarm, but the body cannot unwind and recover so quickly to a state of ease, as the second it took to jump to alert. The body seldom has time to recover from one alarm before the next one has triggered. Before long our bodies end up in a permanent state of underlying tension. This background tension then feeds back and begins to affect our thinking, emotions and behavior. Our judgment deteriorates, we tend to make more mistakes, we may feel depressed, hostile towards others, act less rationally, and so on. The toll on our bodies manifests in various ways: aches and pains, indigestion, insomnia, high blood pressure, allergies, illness - sometimes leading to premature death.

Moreover, your emotions (how you feel) are quite literally indicators that point to the underlying driving force, or the magnet that attracts the events, conditions, and circumstances that you experience in your life on a day to day basis. The emotions that you choose to experience and the feelings that you feel are the determining factor as to how each and every one of your life events unfold and are brought into physical existence.

The emotions that you experience and the thoughts that drive them, like everything in the Universe are at their core pure energy. Like all energy, both the thoughts that you think and the emotions that you allow yourself to experience as a result of those thoughts emit and project an outgoing vibrational frequency that attracts to it self energies of a harmonious vibrational frequency.

So anyone, who wants to use mind powers fully, should not entertain negative emotions or feelings constantly. Because they not only drain the powers of mind and create more situations to create more such negative emotions or feelings by unintentionally programming subconscious mind negatively.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

This
is one of the most meaningful and beautiful poems I have ever read. It is about
the way to live wisely. It advises us not to meddle with laws of life and create
hell for ourselves. Please remind yourself the following facts of life as you
go through life.

- N.GANESHAN

As You
Go Through Life

Don’t
look for the flaws as you go through life;
And even when you find them,
It is wise and kind to be somewhat blind
And look for the virtue behind them.
For the cloudiest night has a hint of light
Somewhere in its shadows hiding;
It is better by far to hunt for a star,
Than the spots on the sun abiding.

The current of life runs ever away
To the bosom of God’s great ocean.
Don’t set your force ‘gainst the river’s course
And think to alter its motion.
Don’t waste a curse on the universe –
Remember it lived before you.
Don’t butt at the storm with your puny form,
But bend and let it go o’er you.

The world will never adjust itself
To suit your whims to the letter.
Some things must go wrong your whole life long,
And the sooner you know it the better.
It is folly to fight with the Infinite,
And go under at last in the wrestle;
The wiser man shapes into God’s plan
As water shapes into a vessel.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

A
father wanted to inculcate a sense of responsibility in his careless son. So he
told his son to hammer a nail into a wooden pillar in their house for his every
careless act and to pull out a nail for his every positive act. The boy did as
his father instructed. After some period of time the boy noticed that the
pillar was getting crowded with nails. The boy resolved to change his behaviour
and began to do more positive acts. The nails started to coming out, till there
were none left.

He father was very proud of his
son’s change in behaviour. He said, “Son you have done a great job. There are
no more nails left on the pillar”.

But the boy saw the holes on the
pillar and started crying. He said, “Father, the nails are gone but the holes
remain”.

Actions always produce results. If
we do not want certain results to happen, we must avoid doing the actions that
produce such results. There is no other way.

It is true that we learn by
mistakes. We may be wiser after committing the mistakes. But the lessons we
learn may turn out to be very costly. Sometimes the damage done may be
irreversible. So the wisest man learns a lot from others’ mistakes and avoids
careless and thoughtless actions that cause misery to him or others.

Monday, March 5, 2012

George Washington Goethals, Chief engineer of Panama Canal Construction Project, advised a young man who lacked initiative, “My friend, you never will get anywhere unless you launch out, take chances, unless you are willing to run the risk of failure. If procrastination runs in your blood, if you have formed the habit of putting off, endlessly deliberating, waiting for better conditions, you will never get anywhere in the world”.It is a great advice. The first thing is to begin. The world is full of people who are failures because they didn’t dare to begin. “Didn’t Dare To Begin” would make a fitting epitaph for millions of nobodies and millions of failures.Begin on little things. Do them voluntarily without being told. Take the initiative repeatedly on little things and gradually you will get more self confidence and courage to take initiative on bigger things.Every big accomplishment is made up of a lot of little acts, each requiring initiative to start. Divide a big job into manly little parts. Take initiative to do one by one. Give all your thought and energy to each part. Before you know it, the big job will be done. And remember – it is more important to do, than to do well. Usually you do badly in the beginning. So stop playing perfectionist. Do not go through life starting some thing, getting it nearly completed, seeing that it is not a masterpiece and then throwing it away. If you give up your goals when you do not like what is happening and if you back away simply because you are experiencing discomfort, you can never achieve any good thing in your life.On the contrary finish what you are doing with your full present capacity. Gradually you will get better and better. Do not define success as perfection. Think of success as a slight bit of improvement over what you were able to do before.Men who achieve great things are the ones who have the initiative to attempt great things and discipline to stay with the tasks till the end. - N.GANESHAN

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Laughter is infectious. The sight of hearty laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, or sneeze. When laughter is shared, it binds people together and increases happiness and intimacy. Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Laughter lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded.

In addition to the feelings of joy and amusement, laughter also triggers healthy physical changes in the body. Humor and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.

Laughter can also help the immune system. Research at the Department of Clinical Immunology at Loma Linda University School of Medicine has demonstrated that the experience of laughter lowers the level of certain stress hormones and stimulates the immune systems by increasing the number of activated T cells and activated T helper cells. In addition, mirthful laughter enhances the activity of natural killer cells that play a crucial role in preventing disease.

Laughter stimulates blood circulation and oxygenation and promotes clear thinking. It increases natural disease fighter white blood cells, according to researchers Lee Berk and Arthur Stone. Their studies suggest healing is accelerated in people who laugh.

Other research shows that even the act of smiling when you don’t feel like it can reduce stress and improve your mood. Not only does it elicit positive responses from others, but it also promotes a sense of well-being. According to psychologist Paul Ekman of the Human Interaction Lab at the University of California in San Francisco, real smiles and fake smiles produce identical changes in brain activity, skin temperature, heart rate and respiration.

Laughter dissolves distressing emotions. You can’t feel anxious, angry, or sad when you’re laughing. It reduces stress and increases energy, enabling you to stay focused and accomplish more. Above all, sense of humour shifts perspective, allowing you to see situations in a more realistic, less threatening light. A humorous perspective creates psychological distance, which can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed. Laughter enables the processing of information in a new way. New perceptions can lead to different and healthier solutions to all difficult problems.

Sometimes, one irritation follows another, and before you know it, our day is ruined. An interesting account is given in the “The Encyclopedia Britannica’s 1982 Yearbook”, under the heading “Strange and Unusual Events.” It tells about a man named Brian Heise who had what you might call a “very irritating day”:

Brian Heise had more than his share of luck in July of that year, and most of it was bad. When his apartment in Provo, Utah, became flooded from a broken pipe in the upstairs apartment, the manager told him to go out and rent a water vacuum. That’s when he discovered his car had a flat tire. He changed it, then went inside again to phone a friend for help. The electric shock he got from the phone so startled him that he inadvertently ripped the instrument off the wall. Before he could leave the apartment a second time, a neighbor had to kick down the apartment door because water damage had jammed it tight. While all of this was going on, someone stole Heise’s car, but it was almost out of gas. He found it a few blocks away but had to push it to the gas station, where he filled up the tank. That evening Heise attended a military ceremony at Brigham Young University. He injured himself severely when he somehow sat on his bayonet, which had been tossed onto the front seat of his car. Doctors were able to stitch up the wound, but no one was able to resuscitate four of Heise’s canaries that were crushed to death by falling plaster. After Heise slipped on the wet carpet and badly injured his tailbone, he said he began to wonder if “God wanted me dead, but just kept missing.”

Many things in life are beyond your control. While you might think taking the weight of the world on your shoulders is admirable, in the long run it’s unrealistic, unproductive, unhealthy, and even egotistical. So, learn to laugh. Cultivate a humourous attitude. Find humour in daily life and difficult situations. Learn to laugh at yourself. Learn to belly laugh and tell jokes. Hang out with people who are fun to be with who make you laugh. Eventually you will find your health and life change positively.